winged C vs Svetlana el34s?

[Steve Conner]

I bought a pair of the New Sensor "Tung-Sol" reissue 6550s a few years ago. I was pleasantly surprised. They seemed to be higher quality than the regular Sovtek 6550s. Thicker glass, plenty of getter, no rattles, and they held up well in my amp. At the time it lived in a rehearsal room and was used by a few other bands besides my own. I think they must have asked the Russian tube factory for a premium product.

I haven't tried the New Sensor "Mullard" EL34 (got a lifetime supply of real Mullards ) but hopefully it would also have premium build quality. Not sure what that implies in terms of tone though.

[big_teee]

I bought a pair of the New Sensor "Tung-Sol" reissue 6550s a few years ago. I was pleasantly surprised. They seemed to be higher quality than the regular Sovtek 6550s. Thicker glass, plenty of getter, no rattles, and they held up well in my amp. At the time it lived in a rehearsal room and was used by a few other bands besides my own. I think they must have asked the Russian tube factory for a premium product.

I haven't tried the New Sensor "Mullard" EL34 (got a lifetime supply of real Mullards ) but hopefully it would also have premium build quality. Not sure what that implies in terms of tone though.

What about the Tungsol EL34B.
I've read good reviews about them but not tried them.
They say they are very durable also.
I've tried the EHs, they are tough, but I thought thin sounding.
T

[daz]

What about the Tungsol EL34B.
I've read good reviews about them but not tried them.
They say they are very durable also.
I've tried the EHs, they are tough, but I thought thin sounding.
T

The tung sols el34's aren't bad, but to me they are good for clean sounds and not great for distortion. I do NOT mean output tube distortion either, just any preamp or pedal generated distortion sounds rather lousy thru the TS's. The lows are especially fuzzy.
I agree on the EH by the way....thin sounding. I actually like them otherwise and i did use them for a while.